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The Bottom LineWe think the HTY-750 has a lot to offer and it will improve the sound of any TV. Our only real concern is the poor bass performance -- which can be improved if you add an extra subwoofer -- and the fairly high price

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Do you want to improve the sound of your TV without filling your living room with loads of speakers, a box the size of the Titanic with 300 wires and more little blue lights than a trendy Soho winebar?

You're in luck: the £400 Yamaha HTY-750 is a simple, all-in-one sound bar, designed to improve the terrible sound emitted by most modern TVs and replace it with a far cleaner, more pleasant sound.

Strengths
The HTY-750 keeps it simple in the design department. The front has a basic screen, which gives you the status of the device and allows you to adjust the various settings. There's also a volume control and power button. Additionally, it includes a simple microphone jack for calibrating the unit to your room layout.

The HTY-750 is clearly aimed at the bedroom/study market. It's small enough to fit beneath a much smaller TV than the other, larger sound bars in the Yamaha range. Instead of reading in bed, you can watch movies and leave the books for the train to work.

For us, one of the best features on the HTY-750 is 'My Beam'. It's simple: when you press the button on the remote, the Yahama refocuses the sound to where you are sitting and reduces the bass level dramatically. This is designed to help people who want to watch TV late at night without disturbing the family. It's actually quite startling how well this feature works, although we can't vouch for its ability not to wake your loved ones.

In addition to My Beam, there are a number of other modes, all of which adjust the way the sound bounces around the room. There are stereo, three beam and five beam modes. These all vary how the Yamaha focuses the 'sound beams' and will work differently depending on what you are watching.

You'll find sufficient connection options at the back. You can plug in a couple of analogue audio sources via the RCA jacks, and there are also digital inputs in the form of a pair of optical and one coaxial sockets -- probably more than enough for most people.